Press Play Podcast: Celebrating Real, Playable Games at the 2024 GAM3 Awards

Gabby highlights how this year’s GAM3 Awards jurors get to vote for live games they have actually played, speaking with Omar Ghanem, Ron Aparajit, Ed Chang, Atif Khan, and co-hosts George and Felix.

The YGG Play Summit is fast approaching, with the entire web3 gaming community eagerly awaiting the start of the only player-focused event in the entire industry. The five-day summit will include tournaments, a game expo, and the first-ever in-person ceremony for the GAM3 Awards.

Now in its third year, the GAM3 Awards will showcase 55 of the best web3 games in the industry competing for prestige and a share of the US$5 million prize pool. With the ceremony being held live in Manila — the heart of web3 gaming adoption and home to many of the nominees’ player base — anticipation for the big awards night is reaching a fever pitch.

Recently, YGG co-founder Gabby Dizon joined Press Play, the GAM3S.GG podcast co-hosted by GAM3S.GG Head of Games Exposure Management George Bracher and What’s Your Gam3 creator Felix Bracher. Gabby, alongside Ancient8 Business Development Lead Ron Aparajit, Sophon COO Ed Chang, Thirdweb VP of Business Atif Khan, and GAM3S.GG CEO and co-founder Omar Ghanem, talked about the significance of choosing to hold the first in-person GAM3 Awards this year in Manila.

They also noted that, unlike previous years, most of the awards nominees are playable now, with Filipinos contributing greatly to the adoption of all these new games when they hit the market.

Listen to the full recording on X.

Press Play #72: GAM3 Awards HYPE pt.3

Felix (20:50): I think most of you have been on the jury before, and if you haven't, you'll have seen the  previous years. What do you think has stood out as the biggest change throughout the years from 2022 to 2023 to now?

Gabby (21:10): We're voting for real, playable games. Need I say more? I think everyone will agree on that. Honestly, in previous years, it's been a struggle to vote for some of these, knowing that the games are very early or not even fully live.

I played most, if not all, of everything I voted for, and our community has played everything. So it's really nice to see that. We're going to see a lot of these games live in the Play Summit this year.

Felix (21:48): I know during the voting, I limited myself to ones I played. I couldn't do that in 2022. I think I got away with it in 2023, and in 2024 it's only been games I've played. So I definitely agree with the fact that we've now got games that are playable to talk about.

Omar (22:11): I think our lives got a lot easier. I remember the first year, the second as well, a little bit. People like Payton from Wolves DAO, people I love and respect, were still a little bit skeptical.  They pushed back a little bit more.

I think our justification was that we always wanted to do this when no one else was doing it and to showcase what's good in the space, even if you don't think too much of it is good. I think that helped us build a foundation for what is now the GAM3 Awards.

If we just started this year, it would have been us waiting two years to do the same thing. I highly doubt we would have done the first one as a physical event, so we'd probably be a few steps behind. So I am thankful that we started back when we did, but at the same time, I think our lives are a lot easier. There's far less pushback.

There's even a kind of acceptance. You start seeing people say, “Why is game XYZ not on the final list? How did this game make it in?” versus, “None of these games are playable. This should not even be assessed. You’re not good enough, etc.” 

The validation that we used to crave is no longer something that we have to work too hard for. So the first year, we definitely didn't have as many big names from traditional gaming or tech in general. Now, being able to flaunt around names like Ubisoft, Amazon and Xbox, I think it tells the story that people are starting to pay attention to the space. Overall, the fact that it's just getting bigger means the games are getting a lot better.

You can listen to the full recording on X.

Follow Gabby, George, Felix and Omar for perspectives on the web3 gaming industry from some of its most seasoned veterans.

Follow Ron, Ed, and Atif for thoughts on the broader web3 industry from some of its most prominent leaders.

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